Eagles changing their look

PHILADELPHIA — The subtle, and not-so-subtle, personnel changes continue for the Eagles, who are still tinkering with the defense by choice and with the offense by necessity.

So uncertain are they about some spots that they departed for San Francisco on Friday without knowing who will start at left defensive end against the 49ers Sunday night or if they will even have a fourth wide receiver in uniform for quarterback Kevin Kolb's fourth career start.

Kolb, confirmed Friday as the replacement for Michael Vick, who's nursing a chest injury, may only get to work with three wideouts because Riley Cooper was not cleared to return, as expected, from the concussion he suffered last week.

"Riley passed his test, actually two days after the event," coach Andy Reid said, "and then had symptoms, so we're not going to put him at risk by putting him out there."

Reid said both of the backup tight ends, Clay Harbor and Garrett Mills, can be used as a fourth wide receiver. But just in case they want extra firepower there, the team is taking practice-squad receiver Chad Hall on the trip with the option of promoting him to the active roster Saturday or Sunday..

"I haven't made any moves, but I will travel Chad with us," Reid said.

The coach also let it be known that Max Jean-Gilles, despite a very shaky start last Sunday, has supplanted Nick Cole as the starting right guard. Cole had been sidelined with a cranky knee, but will dress and back up Jean-Gilles in this game and presumably for the rest of the season, or until Reid changes his mind — whichever comes first.

At least Kolb should have a full complement of running backs.

This is because starter LeSean McCoy is expected to play his usual amount of snaps despite cracking a rib in last Sunday's loss to Washington.

"I feel good, I feel ready to go," McCoy said. "Very excited to get out there and play some football. It's another game for us.

"I mean, I've played a whole half injured, so I feel confident. There's a little pain, but it comes with the territory in this type of business. In this type of game, you're bound to be banged up."

Defensively, the Eagles will feature a different look with Moise Fokou taking over for Akeem Jordan at strong side linebacker and Juqua Parker possibly reclaiming the starting left end role.

Parker, Reid revealed on Friday, was moved back ahead of rookie Brandon Graham on the depth chart. However, it doesn't necessarily mean he will start.

"They're going to both play the same amount," Reid said. "So [Parker is] in with certain groups and the other kid's in with certain groups. I can't tell you who's starting, who's not starting. That depends on what personnel group we have in. He's back in with the base and then they'll just roll it."

The move to Fokou was made with the intent of making the defense better against the run.

"A lot of teams have been running the ball pretty well on us in the past," Fokou said. "And I think that's one of our priorities right now. We have to stop the run, especially with the performance that [RB Frank] Gore had last week. The 49ers had about 160 yards rushing. And we definitely have to stop the run in order to allow the other things to work."

The Eagles are just hoping that their pass defense can hold up now that Fokou, who can't cover as well as Jordan, is in the mix.

The most alarming part of this whole change is that Fokou started training camp with this job, but lost it to Jordan two days in.

Gore actually has been more effective in the pass game than on the ground this season. He already has caught 29 passes for 263 yards, putting him on pace for career highs of 116 receptions for 1,052 yards. That would far exceed his previous bests of 61 and 485.

Suffice it to say that Jordan likely is not out of the picture any more than Fokou is in.

"The best three are going to play," defensive coordinator Sean McDermott said. "And Akeem's a good football player and I don't want to lose sight of that. It's right now, I feel like what our defense needs is for a physical presence to be inserted into our defense and that's Moise.

"We've done this before over the years, and that's what we're doing right now. But in regards to Akeem he's not off the radar by any means. He's still a good football player and I'm sure he'll have a big role not only on defense this week, but on special teams."